After 202 days in office

Shocking news from Austria: Michael Wagner resigns!

Sports Director Michael Wagner is stepping down.(Bild: GEPA)

A bombshell in Favoriten! Michael Wagner has resigned as sporting director at Wiener Austria at his own request. The 50-year-old had previously served on the board of directors for two and a half years, worked his way through the entire youth system, made a total of 275 appearances for the first team, and won three titles with the Violets.

On November 11, Wagner succeeded Manuel Ortlechner; 202 days later, he has now pulled the plug. Wagner and Tomas Zorn—who was proposed by the WTF investor group led by Jürgen Werner, elected by the supervisory board as sporting director in January, and thus became Wagner’s superior—did not always see eye to eye.

Austria sporting director Tomas Zorn.(Bild: krone.tv, Facebook.com/FK Austria Wien)

Opinions also frequently diverged on transfers; following the resignation of sporting director Werner and the parting of ways with Ortlechner, Austria embarked on a new path that not everyone in the Violets’ camp fully supports.

“We want to create a balance between different roles in the squad. Our homegrown players are, of course, intended to be a key pillar here, but to achieve this, we all need to work together to increase the flow of talent into the professional ranks. We are thus adopting an approach that requires patience and the trust of everyone, but one that should lead us to a sustainable and successful future,” explained AG board member Harald Zagiczek, who signed Wagner alongside President Kurt Gollowitzer.

Austria intends to place even greater emphasis on youth development in the future. “This has been a long-standing wish of mine; Austria must now define a philosophy. But you certainly won’t move mountains with youth alone. A key factor should be a balanced squad structure comprising homegrown players, standout talents, and experienced stalwarts. But it’s also clear that we’re talking about a long-term plan here that won’t take effect overnight,” Wagner said upon taking office. He had been very successful with his business partners and companies in the private sector prior to his role as sporting director. “There would have been no logical reason for a change. But my purple heart ultimately chose this new challenge,” Wagner clarified to the “Krone” at the end of November.

No successor
That, however, is already history; Wagner likely had been toying with the idea for quite some time. Austria’s ten-time national team player presumably wanted to find the right moment for himself—not to cause unrest during the pros’ season or before the women’s league showdown. Wagner worked very well and closely with academy director Manuel Takacs and Robert Urbanek (technical director) in all areas of sports. This was never really the case with Zorn. Takacs and Urbanek will remain on board; Wagner’s position will not be filled. Even during the off-season, things remain turbulent in Favoriten!